More Photos of The Retreat (Corona, CA)

[Scott_Burroughs]

As an (as usual) belated addendum to Tommy's superior pics (click here to view first) taken of Nicklaus Group's The Retreat in Corona, CA last summer, below are the pics I took that day:

Lay-up opening tee shot:


Uphill approach to shallow green:


Nasty-hard (also lay-up) tee shot on hardest hole on course (par 4):


Approach on short drive:


From close up:


(Yet another) Lay-up tee shot on dogleg left and downhill 3rd:


Downhill approach to shallow, raised, sideways Biarritz green (sorta Double Plateau):


Tommy putting on the green (we also tried putting the entire width of green):


Uphill par 3 4th, with nice side kick hill:


Tee shot on dogleg right par 4 5th:


Approach:


View from 6th tee:


Short, downhill 6th:


Tee shot on par 5 7th:


Tommy hits down the fairway:


Short, perhaps driveable par 4 8th, with wild & wide green:


Seen here:


Uphill par 4 9th:


Approach:


Tommy hits out of greenside bunker:


Lay-up tee shot on par 5 10th:


Reachable, yet dangerous 2nd shot:


Interestingly bunkered shot par 4 11th:


Long, uphill par 4 13th:


Short par 3 14th, with Eagle Glen GC in distance:


Driveable par 4 Redan-like 15th:


From about 100 yards in:


Downhill par 4 16th:


Approach:


Tee shot on uphill, par 4 DL right 18th:


Approach:

[cary lichtenstein]

Looks like there are quite a few dramatic holes there. How many are special?

[rjsimper]

How is The Retreat significantly different from Eagle Glen?

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Ryan,
No way comparable.

Eagle Glen is somewhat good land. Heaven and earth however was moved on the front nine, while on the back nine, it's some really nice land going up into that canyon. It's a really nice setting.

The Retreat on the other hand is probably the worst land imaginable for golf. However, given all of that, it was a fun course to play given just how bad the land was, and the company wasn't bad either!

[John Kirk]

Tommy hits down the fairway:

Note how Tommy finishes facing the target.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

There is some horrible foot-work going on there. The key to my swing is if my lower body is working, otherwise it's no different for me then chopping wood.

While I may finish straight at the target, if my tempo is off, it can get really ugly. About as ugly as this image!

[John Kirk]

We're always our own worst critic.  I see some more athletic grace there than you do.  

[Tommy_Naccarato]

This is true, we are our own worst critic. But lets face reality here. Do you really see any athletic ability or grace in that follow through?

It looks more like I'm dancing with an earthquake!

[Matt_Cohn]

What's the slope rating on this course? It looks borderline playable for the average golfer.

[rjsimper]

I always love how those temporary orange retainer fences blend into the natural setting....they're used a lot on residential courses in the Inland Empire (whoever came up with that pompous term originally is a marketing genius of Trumpian proportions) and the surrounding, rapidly developing periphery.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

What's the slope rating on this course? It looks borderline playable for the average golfer.

It's actually just the opposite. The course would be an utter waste of time for a really good player.

I want to reiterate that the course is on what is probably the worst piece of golf land imaginable. But given that it's doesn't play as bad as it could have been, it's actualy pretty playable for a higher handicapper. Hopefully Scott will elborate further.

I think it was on the 17th hole, me, a somewhat short knocker of the golf ball with the greed stick, I hit 3 wood 5 iron pitching wedge on this downhill par 5 hole with no aid from wind other then the downhill nature of the hole itself. I think the hole was around 525 yards in length. (a guess)  For a good golfer, they are going to be reaching this thing in two with two irons, or a wood and one iron.

The 10th hole, another quirky par 5, I hit 5 wood, 5 wood, pitching wedge. Does this sound like a course you would like? (I don't think so.)(But your in a rather large company)

For the most part, it's a sporty course, and there is just no other way to term it. But it's also a course that had me attempting to hit certain types of shots, and to me that's a good thing, as bad as the course might be site wise, architecturally, they did the best they could.

[Joe Perches]

as bad as the course might be site wise, architecturally, they did the best they could.

High praise Tommy.

Does that suggest you could enjoy playing there more than once or twice given opportunities to play other places?  Say like Redhawk?

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Joe,
Honestly, I can say that I would rather play The Retreat probably 7-3 out of 10 times vs. Redhawk. I don't dislike Redhawk at all. I just don't think it's all that some might like it to be.

I guess my point is that The Retreat is a far and away more fun golf course for guys like you and me. You have to use all sorts of different shots and different clubs then you would normally use. The balance of holes is interesting too, mind you because of the elevation changes. What might play 500 yards is actually like playing less then 400; yet, what may look like 350 is actually playing 425, (not using any yardages from any particular holes, just using yardage for an example) or maybe even more, just because of the downhill/uphill nature.

Let's use hole #10 for an example.



Off of the tee, a good player could use a mid/long iron and lay-up. A golfer like myself, could be using a five wood, but there is enough room for both of us to use a driver, but it would put us both in less then a decent position to get to the green. You see the hole turns left and honestly it bates you into trying for the green, especially after playing a lesser club off of the tee. It has you thinking big thoughts of being on that green in two. But that next shot, IF you don't pull it off, can have you either in a bunker left or right, or on the uphill side of a slope with having to hit a high pitch on a pretty fearsome grade or even worse, O.B.

Reaching that green isn't necessarily hard, it's just pretty intimidating.

[Chris Cupit]

What's the slope rating on this course? It looks borderline playable for the average golfer.

It's actually just the opposite. The course would be an utter waste of time for a really good player.

Interesting.  Based soley on the pics I thought the same thing before getting to your quote!  Looks like it was a fun day though

[Evan Fleisher]

What's the slope rating on this course? It looks borderline playable for the average golfer.

It's actually just the opposite. The course would be an utter waste of time for a really good player.

I want to reiterate that the course is on what is probably the worst piece of golf land imaginable. But given that it's doesn't play as bad as it could have been, it's actualy pretty playable for a higher handicapper. Hopefully Scott will elborate further.

I think it was on the 17th hole, me, a somewhat short knocker of the golf ball with the greed stick, I hit 3 wood 5 iron pitching wedge on this downhill par 5 hole with no aid from wind other then the downhill nature of the hole itself. I think the hole was around 525 yards in length. (a guess)  For a good golfer, they are going to be reaching this thing in two with two irons, or a wood and one iron.

The 10th hole, another quirky par 5, I hit 5 wood, 5 wood, pitching wedge. Does this sound like a course you would like? (I don't think so.)(But your in a rather large company)

For the most part, it's a sporty course, and there is just no other way to term it. But it's also a course that had me attempting to hit certain types of shots, and to me that's a good thing, as bad as the course might be site wise, architecturally, they did the best they could.

Once again, Tommy has nailed it.  After our play there a week or so ago, my boss was in town over the weekend and I steered him towards The Retreat.  He is probably a 6-ish handicap, and although he said the course was okay he tore it up for the reasons stated above.

I agree that the middle and high handicappers will like the place, but even from the back tees this course is a push-over for the better golfer, and they will probably feel "handcuffed" by the place, and the type of golf they will be forced to play.